Love & other drugs - side effect included

In "Brokeback Mountain" Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway already played a couple whose love, however, was not under a good star from the beginning due to quite obvious difficulties. Now the two actors dare in "Love & other drugs - side effect included" under the direction of Edward Zwick ("Last Samurai", "Blood Diamond") a new attempt - but also this love seems doomed to failure.

There's no doubt that Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) would be hugely successful professionally if he put about half as much ambition into his career as he does into his countless female conquests. But when the Sonnyboy tries his hand at being a pharmaceutical salesman, he senses an opportunity to use his irresistible charm to make a lot of money, too. But there's one factor Jamie didn't count on: when he meets self-confident artist Maggie (Anne Hathaway) and she, like him, isn't looking for a commitment, just fun and good sex, the single man of conviction begins to discover a whole new set of feelings. But love is not as easy to control as Jamie has been used to in his life so far - especially since there is a sad reason for Maggie's rejection of any form of relationship...

The problem with "Love & other drugs" is not that Zwick has delivered a bad film. It's that the fact that he apparently tried to make three different films at once doesn't do much for the overall picture. The film adaptation of the book "Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Saleman" by Jamie Reidy is satire on the pharmaceutical industry on the one hand, romantic drama on the other and last but not least, whenever Jamie's brother Josh shows up, crude sex comedy. And especially this last aspect doesn't work at all in context.

Because the flat sayings and sex jokes Josh makes here would rather fit into a comedy from the house of Judd Apatow. They're not really grotty, but they don't fit the satirical tone or the dramatic moments. Worse, the good moments are diluted by the awkward gags, losing much of the power lent to them by the very good interplay of Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal.

With a weaker duo as the drawing card, Edward zwick's new film would surely have made a very nasty belly landing. But Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal are such eye candy together - and not just visually - that they're just fun to watch - even if the film doesn't actually do their talent justice. The fact that the two of them, and especially Anne Hathaway, still show full physical effort in the truest sense of the word is to their credit. It's a pity that the film only does justice to the devoted acting of its main actors in a few moments and wastes a lot of its actual potential. Still, despite some real low points, there are enough moments that are absolutely worth watching

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp